


Gift Exchange

by Alecto



Series: Can I get a mulligan? [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Christmas Eve, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gift Giving, Idiots in Love, Kaijou Week 2019, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:34:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21868333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alecto/pseuds/Alecto
Summary: December 24, 2012Who could blame Jounouchi for feeling antsy? This was his first-ever honest-to-God Christmas date. With Kaiba Seto no less.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto
Series: Can I get a mulligan? [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550491
Comments: 17
Kudos: 146





	Gift Exchange

**Author's Note:**

> Kaijou Week Day 1 prompt: "winter romance"  
> Takes place a year after chapter 6 "White Elephant Gift" of Side Deck
> 
>   
> 

As usual, KaibaLand was a zoo on Christmas Eve. Everywhere Jounouchi looked, he found families, groups of teenagers, and couples—so many freaking couples all over the joint. Jounouchi had never felt more exposed, surrounded by a sea of people. He checked the time again. He still had plenty of time to wait. Maybe arriving an hour early wasn’t the best idea. 

But who could blame him for feeling antsy? This was his first-ever honest-to-God Christmas date. With Kaiba Seto no less.

He patted his jacket pockets and made sure his gifts were safely stowed away. Then he cupped his freezing hands around his mouth and blew, letting his breath warm his icy fingers. His phone remained silent in his back pocket; his friends finally tired of teasing him. He gave them another hour or so before their curiosity got the better of them again.

“Jounouchi.”

He startled, jammed his hands into his pockets, and winced at the sound of crinkling paper. He really hoped he didn’t crush anything. 

“Heya, Kaiba,” he said, slapping on what he thought was a convincing smile.

Kaiba furrowed his brow as he stopped next to him. “You’re early.”

“So are you.”

“Only because I saw you freezing to death through the security cams. You should have called me.”

Jounouchi threw a dirty look at a camera mounted on a nearby light-post. Now fed up with the cold and being caught out by Kaiba, he shuffled closer to the other boy in hopes of stealing some body heat. “Okay… cuz that’s totally normal,” he muttered.

Kaiba took his elbow and guided him toward the entrance gate instead. “If you wanted normal, Jounouchi, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

That was a joke, right? He couldn’t even get mad at the veiled dog reference. He reached over and lightly punched Kaiba’s arm. Kaiba winced and pulled a grimace even as his eyes glowed with mischief. It was a more beautiful sight than any holiday lights display.

Unable to help himself, Jounouchi broke into a true grin and fell into step next to Kaiba. He couldn’t shake his nervous energy completely. For one, he kept expecting someone in the crowd to recognize the park’s owner and kick up a fuss. But everyone was too caught up in their own fun/drama/romance to notice Kaiba and Jounouchi gliding past them.

“So where to first?” he asked, deliberately slipping his hands into his pocket instead of taking Kaiba’s elegant fingers.

Kaiba hummed, eyes fixed on a point in the distance. “I have one destination in mind.”

-x-x-x-

The Ferris wheel rolled to a gentle stop, leaving them suspended at the top of the ride. Plastic dug into Jounouchi’s back as Kaiba descended on him with ravenous lips and wandering hands. The car rocked to the rhythm of his gasping breaths while Kaiba’s fingers skimmed his ribs. They kissed for long beats of eternity, drinking from each other’s lips. Kaiba tasted of mint. Underneath that was a note of the tobacco he was trying to mask. 

Jounouchi smiled into the kiss and nipped at his boyfriend’s lower lip. He brought one hand to the nape of Kaiba’s neck, ready to draw him closer. Then the most undignified yelp he ever heard filled the carriage. 

Kaiba sprang away, clamping a hand to the back of his neck. Glaring, he hissed like a ruffled cat. “Your fingers are ice cold.”

Jounouchi looked down at his hands, skin rosy from the winter chill. He’d thought they’d warmed up with the burning sensation now coursing through his fingers.

“Honestly, I sometimes wonder how you made it this far in life. You’re lucky your survival instincts are stronger than your stupidity.” Kaiba slid onto the bench next to him, crowding him and started rummaging through Jounouchi's jacket pockets.

“Wait!” he protested. 

His mouth went dry. He watched with growing horror as Kaiba withdrew a clumsily wrapped package from each pocket.

“What are these?” asked Kaiba.

“Uh, presents?” He guessed there was no point denying it now that Kaiba found them.

Kaiba furrowed his brow harder. Jounouchi knew from experience that Kaiba’s long bangs hid the deep forehead creases that accompanied this particular expression. “We agreed though. No gifts.”

“Nah, I told you not to get me anything.” 

Jounouchi had done—no, demanded it out of self-preservation. Because anything Kaiba gave him would probably be horribly expensive. His heart wouldn’t be able to take either the mortification or the ludicrous price tag looming over his head. Granted, it was hypocritical to do the exact opposite and buy gifts for Kaiba. But he didn’t have any concrete plans to give them either. They were just as likely to sit at the bottom of his pockets, never to see the light of day or Kaiba’s critical eyes.

The sound of crinkling paper pulled Jounouchi from his thoughts. Kaiba was unwrapping a gift, neatly peeling the scotch tape back without ripping the wrapper. 

“Rude,” he blustered to cover up the sudden eruption of butterflies in his stomach. “You’re not even gonna ask for permission first.”

Kaiba raised a sardonic eyebrow. “Why should I? They’re mine.”

“Hey, I haven’t given you anything yet!”

“Well, it’s too late to take them back,” Kaiba declared as he unfolded the wad of ice-blue tissue paper. 

Cradled in the center of the wrapping were two tie clips: one depicting the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and the other featuring the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. They were nice enough in their design and inhabited the pricier end of licensed Duel Monsters merchandise. A limited run of a dozen monsters, including Blue-Eyes and Red-Eyes, had been released in September. Jounouchi purchased them after the third time he passed them in a shop window.

Overcome by the need to explain himself, Jounouchi started babbling, “So I know you probably own every Blue-Eyes merchandise on earth, but nothing of good, old Red-Eyes. And these have the same design so they’re kinda like a match—“ He snapped his jaw shut with an audible click.

Matched. Pair. Couple. His skin still crawled at the mere thought of words like that.

And he couldn’t imagine how they made Kaiba feel.

Kaiba folded the tissue paper over the clips and slipped the whole package into his coat pocket. Either oblivious or not caring about Jounouchi’s anxiety, he meticulously tore into the second package to reveal a pair of gloves; the backup gift in case Jounouchi chickened out of giving the tie clips. 

Kaiba’s eyes shot up to his face. “You’re an idiot. You had gloves, and you weren’t wearing them.”

“Kinda hard to give away something as a gift after they’re opened and used,” Jounouchi snarked back.

With a roll of his eyes, Kaiba slipped the gloves over his large hands. He wiggled his fingers and smirked, “Presents received.”

He flushed. They looked good on Kaiba. Then again, everything usually did.

“Here. Put these on.”

Something hit Jounouchi’s chest with a whacking sound, and he caught it. A pair of leather gloves. He cast Kaiba a questioning glance.

“I’m lending them to you,” explained Kaiba primly despite not meeting his gaze. “You can return them later.”

Stretched across his fingers and palm, the leather felt soft and supple. He wondered if they were custom made for Kaiba. It would explain why they ran a little long on Jounouchi. He tried very hard not to think about how much they cost. Definitely the nicest pair of gloves he’d ever worn. And Kaiba chose to wear the ones Jounouchi picked up from Uniqlo amid a pre-holiday panic.

Kaiba took his gloved hands and nodded approvingly. “Good, now that we’ve ensured you won’t lose your fingers to frostbite, I’d like to continue.”

Jounouchi sighed as Kaiba drew him in for another head-spinning kiss. The feel of Kaiba’s mouth moving against his swept away the last of his worries. As Kaiba next turned his attention to nibbling his earlobe, Jounouchi cast his glance heavenwards to the ceiling. He let out a breathless laugh while he mused, “I thought today was a date. Not a hook-up.”

“Who says it can’t be both? I’m good at multitasking.” Kaiba’s voice rumbled low in his ears, sending shivers down Jounouchi’s spine. “I instructed the ride operator to give us five minutes. We now have,”—he raised his right arm on the edge of Jounouchi’s vision and shook loose a coat sleeve to check his smartwatch—“Two minutes and twenty-seven seconds left. Should be enough time for a ‘proper’ make-out session.”

Jounouchi could hear the invisible air-quotes. Laughing, he wound his gloved hands, no longer numbed, through Kaiba’s hair. “Hmm, very romantic. Guess we better make the most of it then.”


End file.
